King of Munster in 954. As a result of
the Anglo-Norman invasion they were driven from the plains of Tipperary into Cork and
Kerry where they remained very powerful down to the end of the seventeenth century. They
were divided into three great branches, the heads of which were known respectively as
MacCarthy More (the Great MacCarthy) centered in Kerry, MacCarthy Reagh, Lord of Carbery
in southwest Cork, and MacCarthy of Muskerry in west Cork. The MacAuhffes (MacAmhlaoibh)
of Castle MacAuliffe in Cork were an important branch of the MacCarthys. Their territory
stretched northwest from Newmarket to the borders with Kerry and Limerick. The
O’Meehans (O Miadhachain) were a branch of the MacCarthys, seated at Ballymeehan in
Leitrim.
The O’Keeffes (O Caoimh) descend from
Art Caomh, son of Finguine, King of Munster in 902, a cousin of Ceaillachan of Cashel.
They were pushed by the Anglo-Norman invasion from the barony of Fermoy in north-central
Cork westward into the northwest of the barony of Duhallow. They remained in possession of
their new territory, called after them "Pobble O’Keeffe," to the end of the
sixteenth century.
The O’Sullivans (O Suileabhain) are also
a branch of the Eoghanacht Chaisil. Their original patrimony, prior to the Anglo-Norman
invasion, was along the River Suir in the plains of Tipperary, their principal seat being
at Knockgraffon, about two miles north of Cahir. In 1192 they were forced out of their
territory and settled in the mountains of Cork and Kerry, where they divided into several
branches under chiefs, the most important of which were O’Sullivan More, possessor of
the barony and castle of Dunkerron, near Kenmare; and O’Sullivan Beare, who owned
Beare, now the baronies of Beare and Bantry on the southwestern peninsula of Cork and
Kerry.
The MacGiilycuddys (Mac Giolla Chuda) are a
sixteenth-century branch of the O’Sullivan More branch of the O’Sullivans. They
gave their name to MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, the mountain range in central Kerry, their
chief being known as MacGillycuddy of the Reeks.
The Ui Eachach Mumhan
The Ui Eachach Mumhan (Munster) or Eoghanacht Raithlinn were an early branch of the
Eoghanacht descended from Cas, son of Conall Corc. They inhabited the territory in Desmond
between the upper reaches of the Lee and the Blackwater in the south of County Cork, and
were thus somewhat isolated from the rest of the Eoghanacht, though they were nonetheless
powerful. In the sixth century they divided into two great branches, the Ui Loegairi
(later Cineal Lao ghaire) of the western part, and the Cineal nAeda (of whom Feidlimid was
king of Munster in the late sixth century) farther to the east between the mouth of the
Lee and the River Bandon. The main line of the Cineal nAeda gave rise in the late seventh
century to the further sub-clan of Cineal mBecce (later Cineal mBeice), inhabiting the
eastern part of the original territory (called |
